front-runner
- n a competitor thought likely to win
- In a wide-ranging conversation, the Iowa front-runner addresses his foreign policy miscues, his style of leadership and his bristling reaction to Mitt Romney's attacks.
- As head of Thailand's oldest political party, the Democrats, Abhisit has emerged as an early front-runner in elections slated for December.
- Mitt Romney, the front-runner in Iowa and New Hampshire, was a liberal when he ran for the Senate from Massachusetts and a moderate when he ran for Governor.